List of battles by casualties
Updated: 5/24/2026, 6:51:50 PM Wikipedia source
The following is a list of the casualties count in battles or offensives in world history. The list includes both sieges (not technically battles but usually yielding similar combat-related or civilian deaths) and civilian casualties during the battles. Large battle casualty counts are usually impossible to calculate precisely, but few in this list may include somewhat precise numbers. Many of these figures, though, are estimates, and, where possible, a range of estimates is presented. Figures display numbers for all types of casualties when available (killed, wounded, missing, and sick) but may only include number killed due to a lack of total data on the event. Where possible, the list specifies whether or not prisoners are included in the count. This list does not include bombing campaigns/runs (such as the attack on Pearl Harbor and the bombing of Tokyo) or massacres such as the Rape of Nanjing, which, despite potentially massive casualties, are not typically classified as "battles", since they are usually one-sided engagements or the nation attacked is not officially at war with the attackers. Tactical or strategic strikes, however, may form part of larger engagements which are themselves battles, small campaigns or offensives.
Tables
| Siege | Year | Conflict | Casualties | |
| (High est.) | (Low est.) | |||
| Siege of Tyre | 332 BC | Wars of Alexander the Great | 39,000 (including 13,000 civilians and 2,000 executed soldiers) | 34,000 |
| Siege of Gaza | 332 BC | Wars of Alexander the Great | 14,000 | 11,000 |
| Siege of Syracuse (213–212 BC) | 213-212 BC | Second Punic War | 40,000 (including Archimedes) | 9,000 |
| Siege of Carthage | 149-146 BC | Third Punic War | 450,000 (including 50,000 civilians enslaved) | 200,000 |
| Siege of Athens and Piraeus | 87–86 BC | Mithridatic Wars (First Mithridatic War) | 400,000 (including prisoners) | 200,000 |
| Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC) | 63 BC | Mithridatic Wars (First Mithridatic War) | 12,000+ | 5,000 |
| Siege of Alesia | 52 BC | Gallic Wars | 200,000 | 100,000 |
| Siege of Constantinople | 626 | Sasanian–Byzantine wars | 95,000 | 70,000 |
| Siege of Constantinople | 717–718 | Arab–Byzantine wars | 170,000 | 130,000 |
| Siege of Yongqiu | 756 | An Lushan Rebellion | 100,000 | 65,000 |
| Siege of Suiyang | 757 | An Lushan Rebellion | 200,000+ | 160,000 |
| Siege of Chandax | 960-961 | Arab–Byzantine wars | 74,000 | 50,000 |
| Siege of Yongzhou | 1076 | Lý-Song War | 140,000 | 78,000 |
| Siege of Nicaea | 1097 | First Crusade | 11,000 | 4,000 |
| Siege of Ma'arra | 1098 | First Crusade | 20,000 (including civilians and soldiers executed and cannibalized) | 8,000 |
| Siege of Antioch | 1097-1099 | First Crusade | 20,000 | 4,000 |
| Siege of Jerusalem | 1099 | First Crusade | 70,000 | 3,000 |
| Siege of Tripoli | 1099-1102 | First Crusade | 10,000 | 2,000 |
| Siege of Bukhara | 1220 | Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire | 30,000 | 15,000 |
| Siege of Gurganj | 1221 | Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire | 1,200,000 | 90,000 |
| Siege of Baghdad | 1258 | Mongol invasions and conquests | 2,000,000 | 90,000 |
| Siege of Acre | 1291 | Fall of Outremer | 20,000 | 10,000 |
| Siege of Caffa | 1345-1347 | Genoese–Mongol Wars | 60,000 | 15,000 |
| Siege of Golubac | 1428 | Ottoman–Hungarian wars | 20,000 | 10,000 |
| Siege of Constantinople | 1453 | Byzantine–Ottoman wars | 54,000+ | 34,000+ |
| Siege of Vijaya | 1471 | Champa–Đại Việt War (1471) | 300,000+ | 130,000+ |
| Siege of Tenochtitlan | 1521 | Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire | 240,000 | 100,000 |
| Siege of Szigetvár | 1566 | Ottoman wars in Europe | 33,000 | 23,000 |
| Siege of Chittorgarh | 1567–1568 | Mughal-Rajput Wars (1558–1576) | 40,000 | 35,000 |
| Siege of Ulsan | 1598 | Imjin War | 30,000 | 13,000 |
| Siege of Nagykanizsa | 1601 | Long Turkish War | 37,000 | 25,000 |
| Siege of Ostend | 1601–1604 | Eighty Years' War | 115,000 | 90,000 |
| Siege of Osaka | 1614-1615 | Edo Period | 500,000 | 110,000 |
| Siege of La Rochelle | 1627–1628 | Huguenot rebellions | 35,000 | 27,000 |
| Capture of Maastricht | 1632 | Eighty Years' War | 14,000 | 9,500 |
| Siege of Candia | 1648–1669 | Cretan War | 149,739 | 149,739 |
| Battle of Vienna | 1683 | Great Turkish War | 83,000 | 99,000 |
| Siege of Buda (1686) | 1686 | Great Turkish War | 23,000 | 23,000 |
| Siege of Jinji | 1690–1698 | Deccan wars | 16,000 | |
| First siege of Anandpur | 1700 | Hill States-Sikh Wars | 150,000+ | 150,000+ |
| Siege of Belgrade (1717) | 1717 | Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| Siege of Izmail | 1790 | Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) | 50,000+ | ~41,500 |
| Siege of Toulon | 1793 | War of the First Coalition | 21,400 | 7,400 |
| Battle of Praga | 1794 | Kościuszko Uprising | 27,000 | ~21,500 |
| Siege of Mantua | 1796–1797 | War of the First Coalition | 51,000 | 51,000 |
| Siege of Genoa | 1800 | War of the Second Coalition | 28,000 | 28,000 |
| Siege of Danzig | 1807 | War of the Fourth Coalition | 17,900 | 17,900 |
| Second siege of Zaragoza | 1808–1809 | Peninsular War | 64,000 | 64,000 |
| Operation | Year | Conflict | Casualties |
| Flanders and Rhine campaign | 1713 | War of the Spanish Succession | 190,442 |
| Montenotte Campaign | 1796 | War of the First Coalition | 8,000+ |
| Ulm Campaign | 1805 | War of the Third Coalition | 62,000 |
| French invasion of Russia | 1812 | Napoleonic Wars | 920,000–1,040,000 |
| German Campaign | 1813 | War of the Sixth Coalition | 745,000 |
| Six Days' Campaign | 1814 | War of the Sixth Coalition | 80,000 |
| Hundred Days | 1815 | War of the Seventh Coalition | 241,525 |
| Peninsula Campaign | 1862 | American Civil War | 36,463 |
| Battle of Chancellorsville | 1863 | American Civil War | 30,000–30,500 |
| Overland Campaign | 1864 | American Civil War | 87,000–92,000 |
| Appomattox Campaign | 1865 | American Civil War | 16,500 |
| Battle of Liaoyang | 1904 | Russo-Japanese War | 33,100 |
| Battle of Shaho | 1904 | Russo-Japanese War | 62,500 |
| Battle of Mukden | 1905 | Russo-Japanese War | 160,000 |
| Battle of Sandepu | 1905 | Russo-Japanese War | 22,400 |
| Battle of Lule Burgas | 1912 | First Balkan War | 42,162+ |
| First Battle of Çatalca | 1912 | First Balkan War | 22,000 |
| Battle of Bregalnica | 1913 | Second Balkan War | 36,620 |
| Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas | 1913 | Second Balkan War | 15,700 |
| Serbian campaign | 1914–1915 | World War I | 790,000–1,587,000+ |
| Battle of the Frontiers | 1914 | World War I | 664,191 |
| Battle of Tannenberg | 1914 | World War I | 145,000–160,000 |
| Battle of Galicia | 1914 | World War I | 645,000–700,000 |
| Battle of Cer | 1914 | World War I | 58,500–65,500 |
| First Battle of the Marne | 1914 | World War I | 513,000 |
| First Battle of the Aisne | 1914 | World War I | 263,541+ |
| Battle of the Yser | 1914 | World War I | 18,500+ |
| First Battle of Ypres | 1914 | World War I | 210,000 |
| Battle of Łódź | 1914 | World War I | 270,000–390,000 |
| Battle of the Drina | 1914 | World War I | 70,000 |
| Battle of the Vistula River | 1914 | World War I | 214,480 |
| Battle of Limanowa | 1914 | World War I | 251,120 |
| First Battle of Champagne | 1914–1915 | World War I | 139,532 |
| Battle of Sarikamish | 1914–1915 | World War I | 60,000—85,000 |
| Carpathian Front | 1915 | World War I | 930,751 |
| Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes | 1915 | World War I | 216,200 |
| Second Battle of Ypres | 1915 | World War I | 104,208–107,000 |
| Gallipoli Campaign | 1915 | World War I | 503,000–552,000 |
| Second Battle of Artois | 1915 | World War I | 186,000 |
| Battle of Neuve Chapelle | 1915 | World War I | 23,000 |
| Second Battle of Champagne–Third Battle of Artois | 1915 | World War I | 75,000–440,000 |
| Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive | 1915 | World War I | 300,000–1,087,000 |
| Great Retreat (Russian) | 1915 | World War I | 1,943,800+ |
| Serbian Campaign | 1915 | World War I | 331,000 including prisoners |
| Erzurum offensive | 1916 | World War I | 80,000—85,000 |
| Battle of Erzincan | 1916 | World War I | 63,000 |
| Battle of Mont Sorrel | 1916 | World War I | 14,000 |
| Battle of Verdun | 1916 | World War I | 755,000–976,000 |
| Battle of Asiago | 1916 | World War I | 250,000 |
| Battle | Year | Conflict | Casualties |
| Battle of Megiddo | 1457 BC | Thutmose III's first campaign in the Levant | 16,000+ |
| Battle of Kadesh | 1274 BC | Second Syrian campaign of Ramesses II | 30,000+ |
| Battle of Qarqar | 853 BC | Assyrian conquest of Aram | 24,000+ |
| Battle of Thymbra | 547 BC | Lydian–Persian War | 100,000 |
| Battle of Marathon | 490 BC | Greco-Persian Wars | 5,000–8,000 |
| Battle of Thermopylae | 480 BC | Greco-Persian Wars | 22,500 |
| Battle of Plataea | 479 BC | Greco-Persian War | 51,500–257,000 |
| Battle of Mycale | 479 BC | Greco-Persian War | 70,000 |
| Battle of Leuctra | 371 BC | Theban–Spartan War | 4,300 |
| Battle of Mantinea | 362 BC | Theban–Spartan War | 18,000 |
| Battle of the Granicus | 334 BC | Wars of Alexander the Great | 7,000 |
| Battle of Issus | 333 BC | Wars of Alexander the Great | 20,000-40,000 |
| Battle of Gaugamela | 331 BC | Wars of Alexander the Great | 53,500 |
| Battle of the Persian Gate | 330 BC | Wars of Alexander the Great | 48,500 |
| Battle of the Hydaspes | 326 BC | Wars of Alexander the Great | 23,310 |
| Battle of Sentinum | 295 BC | Third Samnite War | 33,700 |
| Battle of Heraclea | 280 BC | Pyrrhic War | 11,000–26,000 |
| Battle of Asculum | 279 BC | Pyrrhic War | 9,500+ |
| Battle of Beneventum | 275 BC | Pyrrhic War | 20,000 |
| Battle of Messana | 264 BC | First Punic War | 7,400+ |
| Battle of Changping | 260 BC | Warring States period | 700,000 (ancient source & includes prisoners) |
| Battle of the Bagradas River (240 BC) | 240 BC | Mercenary War | 8,000+ |
| Battle of Telamon | 225 BC | Roman–Gallic wars | 56,000+ |
| Battle of Ticinus | 218 BC | Second Punic War | 9,500+ |
| Battle of the Trebia | 218 BC | Second Punic War | 35,000 |
| Battle of Lake Trasimene | 217 BC | Second Punic War | 30,000 |
| Battle of Cannae | 216 BC | Second Punic War | 50,000+ |
| Battle of Silva Litana | 216 BC | Second Punic War | 24,000+ |
| Battle of the Silarus | 212 BC | Second Punic War | 15,000 + |
| Battle of the Metaurus | 207 BC | Second Punic War | 12,000 |
| Battle of Julu | 207 BC | Chu–Han Contention | 400,000+ (including prisoners) |
| Battle of Wei River | 204 BC | Chu-Han contention | 200,000+ |
| Battle of Utica | 203 BC | Second Punic War | 45,000+ |
| Battle of Gaixia | 203 BC | Chu-Han contention | 100,000+ |
| Battle of the Arius | 200 BC | Antiochus's Bactrian Campaign | 3,750 |
| Battle of Cynoscephalae | 197 BC | Second Macedonian War | 23,700 |
| Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC) | 191 BC | Roman–Seleucid War | 14,000 |
| Battle of Magnesia | 190 BC | Roman–Seleucid War | 53,350 |
| Battle of Pydna | 168 BC | Third Macedonian War | 21,000 |
| Battle of Noreia | 115 BC | Germanic Wars (Cimbrian War) | 24,000 |
| Battle of the Muthul | 109 BC | Jugurthine War | 25,000 |
| Battle of Arausio | 105 BC | Germanic Wars (Cimbrian War) | 85,000 |
| Battle of Aquae Sextiae | 102 BC | Germanic Wars (Cimbrian War) | 90,000 |
| Battle of Chaeronea | 86 BC | Mithridatic Wars (First Mithridatic War) | 50,000 |
| Battle of the Colline Gate | 82 BC | Sulla's civil war | 50,000 |
| Battle of Saguntum (75 BC) | 75 BC | Sertorian War | 11,000 |
| Battle of Chalcedon | 74 BC | Mithridatic Wars (Third Mithridatic War) | 19,000+ |
| Battle of the Silarius River | 71 BC | Third Servile War | 11,000 |
| Battle of Tigranocerta | 69 BC | Mithridatic Wars (Third Mithridatic War) | 10,000+ |
| Action | Year | Conflict | Casualties |
| Sack of Rome (455) | 455 | fall of the Western Roman Empire | 400,000+ |
| Sack of Thessalonica (1185) | 1185 | third Norman invasion of the Balkans | 10,000+ |
| Sack of Berwick (1296) | 1296 | First War of Scottish Independence | 17,000 |
| Sack of Rome (1527) | 1527 | War of the League of Cognac | 48,000 |
| Raid on the Bay of Naples (1544) | 1544 | Ottoman–Habsburg wars | 50,000 |
| Fire of Moscow (1571) | 1571 | Russo-Turkish wars | 60,000-120,000 |
| Sack of Magdeburg | 1631 | Thirty Years' War | 26,900 |
| Raid on the Medway | 1667 | Second Anglo-Dutch War | 650 |
| Sand Creek massacre | 1864 | American Indian Wars | 600 |
| Dieppe Raid | 1942 | World War II | 6,860 |
| Battle or Action | Year | Conflict | Casualties |
| Battle of the Delta | 1179 BC | Late Bronze Age collapse | 5000-10,000 |
| Battle of Salamis | 480 BC | Second Persian invasion of Greece | 50,000 |
| Battle of Cape Ecnomus | 256 BC | First Punic War | 50,000 |
| Battle of Actium | 31 AC | War of Actium | 7,500 |
| Battle of the Masts | 655 | Arab–Byzantine wars | 20,000 |
| Battle of Dan-no-ura | 1185 | Genpei War | 20,000 |
| Battle of Yamen | 1279 | Song-Yuan Wars | 110,000 |
| Third battle of Bach Dang river | 1288 | Mongol invasion of Vietnam | 85,000 |
| Battle of Chaul | 1508 | Mamluk–Portuguese conflicts | 840 |
| Battle of Lepanto | 1571 | Ottoman–Habsburg wars | 40,000 |
| Battle of São Vicente | 1583 | Eighty Years' War | 166 |
| Battle of Solebay | 1672 | Third Anglo-Dutch War | 3,100 |
| Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue | 1692 | Nine Years' War | 10,000 |
| Battle of Pondicherry | 1759 | Seven Years' War | 1,589 |
| Battle of Chesma | 1770 | Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) | 12,000 |
| Battle of Dogger Bank | 1781 | Fourth Anglo-Dutch War | 988 |
| Battle of Vyborg Bay | 1790 | Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) | 6,000–12,000 |
| Battle of the Nile | 1798 | French campaign in Egypt and Syria | 8,997 |
| Battle of Copenhagen | 1801 | War of the Second Coalition | 2,800 |
| Battle of Trafalgar | 1805 | War of the Third Coalition | 4,853 |
| Battle of Navarino | 1827 | Greek War of Independence | 6,000 |
| Battle of Sinop | 1853 | Crimean War | 3,366 |
| Battle of Hampton Roads | 1862 | American Civil War | 392 |
| Battle of Riachuelo | 1865 | Paraguayan War | 997 |
| Battle of the Yalu River | 1894 | First Sino-Japanese War | 1,730 |
| Battle of the Yellow Sea | 1904 | Russo-Japanese War | 566 |
| Battle of Tsushima | 1905 | Russo-Japanese War | 5,162 |
| Battle of Lemnos | 1913 | First Balkan War | 146 |
| Battle of Coronel | 1914 | World War I | 1,660 |
| Battle of the Falkland Islands | 1914 | World War I | 1,900 |
| Battle of Dogger Bank | 1915 | World War I | 1,081 |
| Battle of Jutland | 1916 | World War I | 12,000 |
| Battle of Cape Machichaco | 1937 | Spanish Civil War | 35 |
| Battle of Cape Palos | 1938 | Spanish Civil War | 765 |
| Battle of the River Plate | 1939 | World War II | 196 |
| Attack on Mers-el-Kébir | 1940 | World War II | 1,669 |
| Operation Juno | 1940 | World War II | 1,662 |
| Last battle of Bismarck | 1941 | World War II | 2,249 |
| Battle of Cape Matapan | 1941 | World War II | 2,303 |
| Battle of Cape Bon | 1941 | World War II | 817 |
| Battle of the Java Sea | 1942 | World War II | 2,336 |
| Battle of Midway | 1942 | World War II | 3,364 |
| Battle of Santa Cruz Islands | 1942 | World War II | 766 |
| Battle of Savo Island | 1942 | World War II | 1217 |
| Naval Battle of Casablanca | 1942 | World War II | 636 |
| Battle of the Bismarck Sea | 1943 | World War II | 2,903 |
| Battle of Leyte Gulf | 1944 | World War II | 15,500 |
| Battle of San Carlos | 1982 | Falklands War | 65 |
References
- 150,000 in El Fasher are currently missing or otherwise unaccounted for, as of 5 December 2025
- Low-end estimate of civilian casualties from the United Kingdom's International Development Committee between November a
- including approximately 35,000 civilian casualties due to bombing
- including approximately 35,000 civilian casualties due to bombing
- Estimated casualty figure
- Historiae Romanae ad M. Vinicium Libri Duo, II, 23
- Grant, p. 74
- Trần Trọng Kim 1971, p. 43
- The Making of South East Asia
- The Different aspects of Islamic culture, v. 4: Science and technology in Islamhttps://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134503
- The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Viennahttps://archive.org/details/islamicworldinas0000sick/mode/1up
- Wondrium Dailyhttps://www.wondriumdaily.com/the-mongol-sack-of-baghdad-in-1258/
- Mann, p. 143
- Hassig
- Grant, p. 159
- Only military casualties.
- Grant, p. 230
- John Sweetman, Crimean War, Essential Histories 2, Osprey Publishing, 2001,
- Third Battle of Nanking, p. 678https://books.google.com/books?id=69EbKf6JrxYC&pg=PA678
- Grant, p. 231